Conventionally, an automatic braking apparatus has been known that detects an obstacle in front of a vehicle, and if a collision with the obstacle is predicted, has the vehicle execute braking automatically (see, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2012-121534). In this way, by having the vehicle execute braking automatically, if a collision with the obstacle is predicted, it is possible to avoid the collision with the obstacle in front of the vehicle.
However, a following vehicle needs to execute braking or to change the lane in response to the automatic braking of the vehicle. Therefore, depending on how the automatic braking of the vehicle is executed, the driver of the following vehicle may not be able to perform an appropriate driving operation following the automatic braking of the vehicle.
In view of the above, it is a general object of at least one embodiment to provide a vehicle braking control apparatus that can have a vehicle execute braking automatically to avoid a collision with an obstacle ahead of the vehicle, and to make it possible for the driver of a following vehicle to perform an appropriate driving operation following the behavior of the vehicle avoiding the collision.